Blue, one of, if not, the most feared colour in all of Magic. Its strength lies primarily in stack manipulation and card draw. Despite all of this, Mono-U seems often to never really rely too heavily on its creatures as the primary path to victory. Their way is to preferably combo off or control the board until you can grind the game down to favour them.
There are, of course, a few exceptions to this, most notably Azami, Lady of Scrolls and Sun Quan, Lord of Wu. Where the prior uses them as a cog in their grand machine for comboing off. The latter is terribly over costed for what most decks want to do. Enter Tetsuko Umezawa, a blue commander that favours a more aggressive approach to creatures. Low CMC and a powerful effect means that she pilots a flexible and powerful deck that's not quite like anything else within the colour.
About Me:
Hello, my handle online is Chaosnomad, and I'm from the west-coast of Canada. I've drifted in and out of Magic since Planeshift (2001), and always find it fun to brew new decks that I'll probably never play in a ratty notebook that lies in my bedroom. Of course, this is more about my relationship with Commander rather than Magic as whole, otherwise we'll be here for far too long.
My relationship with the Commander (EDH) format has been a bit more complicated. I'd initially heard about from an older sibling during lull in my Magic career. Conflux (2009) was just around the corner, and my sibling decided to try to con me to comeback to Magic. They wove me fanciful tales of this spectacular new format called EDH. How you always had a legendary representative, and that you only ever needed a singular copy of a card for your deck. I shrugged, and replied with a simple request to make me some red deck to play.
He came back to me a week later with a deck helmed by Akroma, Angel of Fury. Now the deck was terrible, but I still adored that awful deck. It has long since been disassembled, but it still struck a chord with me. Most importantly, it started a fairly long fascination with the format.
Over the years, I've had a multitude of decks. Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed to Nin, the Pain Artist (my first deck that I would really consider to be really built by me). My preferences always lead me back to the Rakdos colour pair though. In fact, my current favourite deck, Titania, Protector of Argoth, was made in an attempt to break into my, then, least favourite colour.
These decks that I craft on here may never fully come to fruition as often times I use them as a thought experiment. That said, I always enjoy the discussion. Hopefully, my ideas here will inspire you to craft some more decks of your own.
Description:
The deck is fairly new as of just prior to Dominaria, and is still mostly in its preliminary stages, but I have high hopes for it. The deck's core focus is to be playing smaller blue creatures, whilst evading blockers via Tetsuko's own ability to get value. Now there are a few larger creatures, but look at them as a way to further are own goals. If the game starts to go long we have a healthy suite of counters to try and control the flow of play.
Pongify/Rapid Hybridization: Both cards that act as spot removal, and what's left behind will often not be able to block our own horde
Chain of Vapor: A bounce spell that can also save our own permanents in case of a wrath.
Teferi's Veil: A way to protect ourselves from the fear of an impending wrath? Sign me up. Now I just need to track one down.
Gigantoplasm: Another clone effect, but this one has the option to abuse Tetusko's ability. Is the cost potentially too much? My CMC is still relatively low.
Skullclamp: Really this card is pretty much required at some point, but I'm going to hold off for a bit. There's still more stuff I want to test before adding the clamps.
Lightning Greaves: This is a card I've been bouncing back, and forth on. It's really good at providing protection for creatures, but it also slows down our early turns.
Jace, Cunning Castaway: Good ol' Harelquinn Romance Jace, he's not strong, but dangit I like him in the deck. As I refine the deck more and more, I'm tempted to cut him.
Change Log:
So after rethinking some card, goldfishing the deck, and a few games at my FLGS, I've decided on a few preliminary changes as certain cards are already proving to detrimental, or sluggish.
Commandeer -> Deepfathom Skulker: Commandeer has just sat in my hands both games that I've held it. Most times when someone at the table played something, it was better to counter it. That being said, I've looked and it seems I could use a couple more creatures that synergize with Tetsuko as she is disappointing without anything else on the board.
Treasure Cruise -> Impaler Shrike: Treasure Cruise hasn't been bad, but I want to buff out my creature slots as well. This deck needs to be proactive, and I feel like Treasure Cruise is just not where I want to be currently.
Ophidian -> Jhessian Thief: Having to prevent the damage from Ophidian has proven troublesome, and while I've been wishy-washy on including Prowess creatures, as they provide a non-bo if I need to counter mid-combat, Ophidian disappointed. Sorry, snek.
Spellskite -> Tandem Lookout: Similar problems to Commandeer, I need more creatures, and would rather get more creatures on board.
Karn's Temporal Sundering -> Glen Elendra Archmage: I'm trying to minimize extra turns, so eliminating one won't be a big issue. That being said Glen Elendra has some nice synergy with the deck.
Keiga, the Tide Star -> Arm with AEther: I'm dropping Keiga as the only time he ever gets removed is when a Wrath is inbound. Arm is an interesting card that fits in with our deck's core strategy
Mind Stone -> Mask of Memory: Mind Stone has the unfortunate problem of been stuck in the low end of our mana curve when the deck's curve is fairly low to begin with. Often times, I found myself casting it for the card draw. I would rather replace with a card that makes Tetsuko more valuable.
Due to recent suggestions, I'm changing the deck in the following ways.
Mind Over Matter -> Military Intelligence: This is an easy switch. M.O.M. never really had a place in the deck, and I definitely forgot how disappointing it can be when played fair.
Soldevi Excavations -> Reliquary Tower: The deck can easily get a large hand-size, and having more ways to protect it is not a bad thing.
Island*2 -> Polluted Delta/Flooded Strand: These were both sitting in an old Khans standard deck that I forgot about. I might as well add them in.
So update, I got an SP Back to Basics for a really good price, and a Bloodforged Battle-Axe also. This means I'm going to drop most of my non-Basics except for a few.
Baral, Chief of Compliance -> Looter il-Kor: I'm really not heavy in the instant and sorcery department, and perpetually unblockable looter is good for what the deck wants.
Time Spiral -> Bloodforged Battle-Axe: I don't really need the grip refresh, and I would prefer to have some more Wincon related cards. Not a bad card, and may change it back soon.
I'm swapping around a card for a Adeliz, the Cinder Wind Brawl deck I want to have on stand by, and an underperformer.
Torrential Gearhulk -> Consecrated Sphinx: I really want him in my Brawl deck, but alas I only own a single copy. I'm really not heavy in the instant department, but I really love how he interacts with Buyback.
Warkite Marauder -> Sakashima's Student: Warkite Marauder often is nothing more than 2/1 Flying, and I'm often left wanting more for his ability. I feel like he would be better in a deck that ran more targeted removal.
Jhessian Thief -> Gilded Drake: While not inherently bad, Thief makes us need to cast anything other than creatures on the second main phase. I figured the easiest way to circumvent it is to get rid of it, and the Drake is always a good card. It often can't block us, and allows us to have slight more late game reach.
Deepfathom Skulker -> Whir of Invention: An overcosted card to a more flexible card. Skulker wasn't terrible, but suffered from the fact that it costed so much to bring out. At worst, Whir can find an ersatz replacement for the Skulker in Bident of Thassa for only 7. Raven Guild Master -> Thassa, God of the Sea: The Guild Master has always had the problem of not really doing anything other then drawing us ire. Thassa gives us another source of unblockability, and provides a large-ish beater, something which this deck is somewhat lacking in.
Mission Briefing whilst unassuming has been noteworthy in the few games. The ability to pay alternative costs with it has proven clutch, whether it's paying for an additional Overloaded Cyclonic Rift or getting a Capsize back to hand with its Buyback from the GY, Briefing only exiles if it would be put in the GY.
Nightveil Sprite has been a welcome addition as it does supplement the early game. The deck tends to struggle if it can't get an early source of draw, and while not draw per se, it can help even out our deck.
Island->Mutavault: Just a minor change. I want to see how it plays out, I've got a couple more decks that it might be played in, but I want to see it here first. Ideally, it'll just allow us some extra card draw with some additional synergy with Master of Waves and Prowl triggers. Tezzeret, Artifice Master->Invoke Prejudice: Tezzeret has been consistently underwhelming, and my recent acquisition of a copy of a infamous terrible, terrible card has made the swap over easy.
This is just some generalized deck updates to help smooth out the deck. Whilst there aren't too many, I do have some future ones in the back of my mind, but I just need to acquire the cardboard first.
12x Island -> 12x Snow-Covered Island: This is more a meta call, but with the recent release of Horizons I know multiple people have already gone on Extraplanar Lens, but this is compounded by the fact that a local player has also found out about the joys of Wake of Destruction. Since we are mono-colored I'm switching to 50/50 split of basic and snow for the time being.
Search for Azcanta -> Intuition: Search has never been a card that's impressed me too heavily here, and with the recent deconstruction of my Narset deck, this seems like a good home for the Intuition that was in the prior mentioned deck. From the games that I've seen it, it's been really nice. Oft times, I've been able to eke out a victory from this devious card.
Riptide Entrancer -> Gateway Sneak: This card's been out for awhile, but a formal update has never been made for the deck. Entrancer tended from my experience to be much too slow for my liking, and more on hit draw effects that synergise with the deck is never a bad option, especially since if we don't see one of these effects early this deck can really flounder.
Invoke Prejudice -> Reconnaissance Mission: A fairly easy swap with the aforementioned cards banning, and not one that should take people by surprise. More Coastal Piracy effects is something that this deck wants.
Back to Basics -> Ghostly Pilferer: I'm cutting this more just because I really don't play this card as many of the people have started to shift to more fun decks, and is often feel bad for the rest of the table. I still have a soft spot for my original vision of deck, but this is one card I can cut.
This deck looks a little too competitive for my blood (Pact, Sunder, Quietus Spike, etc.), but pretty sweet and inspiring. There seems to be a lot of draw power going on, naturally for mono-U, so would you consider something more to protect your hand size (other than Nezahal, Primal Tide which is an awesome card!) like Reliquary Tower, Thought Vessel, or even Venser's Journal if you think residual life-gain can be of utility in this deck? Is it just me or does Mind Over Matter seem out of place here? Usually I've seen it as a combo with something like Temple Bell for a Laboratory Maniac win, but both the Bell and Maniac are missing here and I don't seem a considerable amount of graveyard or tap/untap shenanigans otherwise, unless I'm totally missing it. I suppose you could be using it for "normal" value of tapping/untapping creatures for defense and untapping mana rocks for ramp. If not, I suggest cutting the MoM for Venser's Journal.
I definitely second Teferi's Veil. If you're attacking with those creatures, then they've no utility on opponents' turns to block, so the Veil protects them from any sorcery-speed removal, which is the near absolute of board wipes. Plus, as an enchantment itself, it is one of the harder-to-remove pieces. I have a mono-U deck that I had counterspells in just to counter board wipes, and was able to cut a majority of them once I put the Veil in. I would suggest cutting a counterspell from this list for it as well.
Thanks for the suggestions, Teferi's Veil is definitely a card that I'll need to keep an eye out for. Unfortunately, I just finished a card order, but I will make a note for that to go on the next one.
Military Intelligence, I didn't even know was a card. That's going to be an easy fix to fit that in.
This deck looks a little too competitive for my blood (Pact, Sunder, Quietus Spike, etc.), but pretty sweet and inspiring. There seems to be a lot of draw power going on, naturally for mono-U, so would you consider something more to protect your hand size (other than Nezahal, Primal Tide which is an awesome card!) like Reliquary Tower, Thought Vessel, or even Venser's Journal if you think residual life-gain can be of utility in this deck? Is it just me or does Mind Over Matter seem out of place here? Usually I've seen it as a combo with something like Temple Bell for a Laboratory Maniac win, but both the Bell and Maniac are missing here and I don't seem a considerable amount of graveyard or tap/untap shenanigans otherwise, unless I'm totally missing it. I suppose you could be using it for "normal" value of tapping/untapping creatures for defense and untapping mana rocks for ramp. If not, I suggest cutting the MoM for Venser's Journal.
I definitely second Teferi's Veil. If you're attacking with those creatures, then they've no utility on opponents' turns to block, so the Veil protects them from any sorcery-speed removal, which is the near absolute of board wipes. Plus, as an enchantment itself, it is one of the harder-to-remove pieces. I have a mono-U deck that I had counterspells in just to counter board wipes, and was able to cut a majority of them once I put the Veil in. I would suggest cutting a counterspell from this list for it as well.
This deck is looking really fun!
Thanks for the compliments, I really appreciate them. My overall goal with this is to try and overall make this thread into a Primer, or at least Primer worthy, entry on the site. I'm choosing the new legends partially because they haven't been fully played with yet, and I would love to be an active voice in the development of at least one of these decks. This is helped by the fact, that this thread can grow much more naturally as the set has not been released yet. Anyways, on with the show.
Yeah, you're right Mind Over Matter doesn't really have a place in this deck. I happened to have an extra one, and wanted to try it. It was the same case with Sunder. I just had to use that Amonkhet Invocation art that I had for it, lol.
I already have Thought Vessel in deck, but you're also right I could use more hand-size protection. As is, I think I might to tinker with my mana base for a bit. That means I'm dropping Soldevi Excavations for a Reliquary Tower. I want to play the deck more before I start adding card like Venser's Journal, and I would rather currently drop the curve of the deck currently.
So due to recent suggestions, I'm changing the deck in the following ways.
Mind Over Matter -> Military Intelligence: This is an easy switch. M.O.M. never really had a place in the deck, and I definitely forgot how disappointing it can be when played fair.
Soldevi Excavations -> Reliquary Tower: The deck can easily get a large hand-size, and having more ways to protect it is not a bad thing.
Island*2 -> Polluted Delta/Flooded Strand: These were both sitting in an old Khans standard deck that I forgot about. I might as well add them in.
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All sounds good! I just realized Graceful Adept also fits the no max hand size bill and doubles as an unblockable body with Tetsuko. After my first post, I totally remembered Sakashima's Student as a neat way to copy an opponents potentially much bigger creature and get it in for damage. Could be deadly. Not exactly cheap $-wise, but when you're copying Eldrazi Titans, seems like a value to me.
Jushi Apprentice looks spicy in this deck, and should reliably flip, and get you more draw.
I like Knacksaw Clique here because it's a decent flying blocker early and you can reliably activate it's untap ability after it attacks (and taps) unblocked. You can "play" the card and not just "cast" it, so you can snipe some lands and ramp yourself too, plus if you eventually get some diferent colors (or have something like Gilded Lotus), then you can start to cast non-blue stuff too. Decent combo with Wizened Snitches, which is tastefully a rogue, if that eventually matters.
Have you thought about Lu Xun, Scholar General for the "draw on damage" theme? I use him in my Thassa, God of the Sea and it's pretty reliable, and even better if you don't have to pay 1U to do it! Thieving Magpie. Also, Ophidian does the same, but just has the choice of draw or damage. You may have thought about these cards already, but I hadn't seen them mentioned here.
I actually tried Ophidian in my first iteration. The card was unreliable if any other effects were wanted, and I often found myself wishing for a more standard version of the effect. I think I listed in my changelog that it was swapped out for Jhessian Thief, I'm very hesitant on including Prowess based creatures because they don't synergize with Tetsuko very well. Hence, why I'm not play "How Granny got her Groove Back".
Sakashima's Student is a card I actually already own. Bought the Ninja deck during its first go around, and that's certainly a interesting idea. Though do you think it's better than Gigantoplasm in this deck? They both seem equally flexible, and that was a clone someone else pointed out to me as well.
Knacksaw Clique is a card that's one my short list of testable cards. I really need to have more extensive list on cards I want to try out on the main post. In addition, there's actually an okay amount of Faeries for this deck. I even taken more then one glance at Latchkey Faerie.
I'll be honest on Lu Xun, Scholar General. I'm not running him because I actively dislike his art. It just looks so awkward and stilted. His effect is good, and he probably should be in the deck. Thieving Magpie is definitely a good idea as well.
Finally, I'm really tempted with all of the ideas you're giving me to make a more budget list. I'm really loving the input, and it's getting my head spinning in a few ways to take the deck.
Hmmmmm, I'm going to need to find some cuttable cards.
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Sakashima's Student is a card I actually already own. Bought the Ninja deck during its first go around, and that's certainly a interesting idea. Though do you think it's better than Gigantoplasm in this deck? They both seem equally flexible, and that was a clone someone else pointed out to me as well.
I think both Sakashima’s Student and Gigantoplasm are great clone effects for a deck like this, although I see them differing in their application a bit. I see the Student wanting to copy something big on the board, anyone’s creature, with the added element of surprise with a cheap Ninjitsu ability. Think someone is holding up Settle the Wreckage or similar removal to your mounting attacks? Swing in with a lone Scroll Thief or similar to appear like your just looking for value. An opponent likely wouldn’t use precious removal over one damage and a single card draw. That’s when you thrown in the Student copying an opponent’s Malignus or Consuming Aberration that’s been growing all game sadly without evasion to do anything! The con here is that you can only make the Student/copy unblocked once if power and toughness are more than 1, unless you can bounce it to do it again. Giganto on the other hand would likely be copying a 1/X or X/1 creature to “sneak” in damage via its own ability after attacks. This effect is more repeatable, but also more mana intensive (mono blue is not known for mana ramp outside of a ton of mana rocks) and it has to sit on the board for a whole round hoping to dodge sorcery-speed (and all other types) removal. Giganto can protect itself from -X/-X stuff though, if you have the mana up. Both good, and I would personally try to keep both in for now to see how they go, but if I HAD to cut one or the other, then I would cut Giganto and keep Student mostly for the instant-speed surprise factor and cheaper ability.
UPDATE:
So an update, I got an SP Back to Basics for a really good price, and a Bloodforged Battle-Axe also. This means I'm going to drop most of my non-Basics except for a few.
When it comes to Whir of Invention, it's not about having a lot of artifacts, but having a tutor for select artifacts that are important to your overall strategy (such as Jitte, Battle-Axe, Quietus Spike, Meekstone). I run it in my Tetsuko deck, which has a similar artifact count / selection as your deck and it is fantastic. Skullclamp is another fantastic target for it if you run a lot of 1 toughness creatures.
I'm swapping around a card for a Adeliz, the Cinder Wind Brawl deck I want to have on stand by, and an under-performer.
Torrential Gearhulk -> Consecrated Sphinx: I really want him in my Brawl deck, but alas I only own a single copy. I'm really not heavy in the instant department, but I really love how he interacts with Buyback.
Warkite Marauder -> Sakashima's Student: Warkite Marauder often is nothing more than 2/1 Flying, and I'm often left wanting more for his ability. I feel like he would be better in a deck that ran more targeted removal.
I also considered Warkite Marauder, but it doesn't really do anything for us.
Also, if you want to get the most out of coastal piracy effects, I suggest adding a few cheap flyers to your list. In particular, I would suggest Siren Stormtamer, as it protects Tetsuko, and Cloud of Faeries, as it is free and combos nicely with ninjas.
I also considered Warkite Marauder, but it doesn't really do anything for us.
Also, if you want to get the most out of coastal piracy effects, I suggest adding a few cheap flyers to your list. In particular, I would suggest Siren Stormtamer, as it protects Tetsuko, and Cloud of Faeries, as it is free and combos nicely with ninjas.
Oh, I really like Siren Stormtamer. I'm going to need to throw it in here somewhere. Cloud of Faeries, I'm a little more hesitant on as I'm not sure if a free 1/1 flier is really worth it. Granted, it's definitely something for me to keep in mind as I restructure the deck.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Library of Leng yet. It's a Spellbook that can also negate the drawback of looting effects.
Library of Leng isn't something that I want as I don't find myself often needing the cards I'm discarding, and I would often have to cut something more valuable.
In other news,
I've been messing with the deck, and I've come to the conclusion that I might need at least another end game threat. I have an issue of closing out games. I was looking at one of the Eldrazi Titans. I would like someone else's opinion on this. Does anyone out there in the empty void of the internet have any thoughts?
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I'm not a fan of the eldrazi, as they are bad draws early on. Rite of replication is a potential finisher that is also useable in the early / mid game.
Well, I'm currently building a version of this deck for our budget meta (no card over $1 TCGPlayer mid). One card that's been doing quite a bit of work for me is Sigil of Sleep.
Another Quick Update:
I got a few more 1v1 games with this deck in, and boy does it feel nice there. I had some problems organizing larger game with the Pre-Release going on, and whilst not my preferred way to play, it does have some definite game to it in 1v1. I say, nothing feels better then attacking with 2 unblockable creatures drawing 6 and discarding 2.
Anyways, I've also decided to make one more change.
Jhessian Thief->Gilded Drake: While not inherently bad, Thief makes us need to cast anything other than creatures on the second main phase. I figured the easiest way to circumvent it is to get rid of it, and the Drake is always a good card. It often can't block us, and allows us to have slight more late game reach.
In other news:
I'm needing to find a Thassa, God of the Sea, and everywhere in my local area seems to be sold out, sigh. This next cut will probably Raven Guild Master as we're not a mill deck.
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More Updates:
I was able to track down a Thassa in my nearby vicinity. What this all means is I'm making another update, its been so long I know.
Deepfathom Skulker -> Whir of Invention: An overcosted card to a more flexible card. Skulker wasn't terrible, but suffered from the fact that it costed so much to bring out. At worst, Whir can find an ersatz replacement for the Skulker in Bident of Thassa for only 7.
Raven Guild Master -> Thassa, God of the Sea: The Guild Master has always had the problem of not really doing anything other then drawing us ire. Thassa gives us another source of unblockability, and provides a large-ish beater, something which this deck is somewhat lacking in.
Additional Info:
I've been happy on how this deck has been playing currently, and I'm probably going to focus more on refining the main post at this point. In addition, I want to start giving recaps for my games. If you have any suggestions on updating the main deck be sure to give me a recommendation, I always appreciate them.
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I made some major updates to my list, but wanted to post a few card suggestions here that I think are very good in this deck.
The first two are Explorer's Scope and Dowsing Dagger. Explorer's scope synergizes very well with our overall gameplan. For a 2 mana investment, it can accelerate our mana, and when it doesn't, it ensures that our next draw is a nonland card, which is very helpful during the mid to late game when we no longer need to draw mana. Dowsing Dagger is also a way to provide mana acceleration for this deck. While the +2/+1 does not work well with Tetsuko, we have enough evasion without him to be able to flip this consistently, and once flipped, it provides a lot of additional mana.
Another card that I think is good for us is Hangarback Walker. We can drop it as a 1/1 to keep evasion from tetsuko and get combat damage triggers from equipment or Coastal Piracy, but we can also increase the number of counters on it to act as a sort of insurance against board wipes.
Also, I noticed you don't run Stolen Identity, which is a bomb in this deck, and usually copies two permanents the turn it is cast. 6 mana is a lot, but in this case, I think it is well worth it.
Lastly, I have been considering running Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir to prevent instant speed removal on Tetsuko during the combat step. I am curious as to what your thoughts are on this.
Edit: on second thought, you don't run as much evasion as I do, so maybe the dagger isn't worthwhile.
I've been meaning to ask about this deck aswell. It looks totally awesome, and I've started collecting cards for it myself. Have you done any more testing?
There is some cards I didn't see mentioned here that I hope you could elaberate on. Mindshrieker is a creature that benefits from Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive's evasion that also can get bigger (if you have the mana for it...). The effect might be hit and miss, but I think it's worth considering, espicially since this is a weenie deck.
Also didn't see Surrakar Spellblade mentioned. I know you have to play a spell afterwards for him to be a Scroll Thief, but if the instant/sorcery department is of a decent volume, he might totally be worth it.
Finally I'm thinking about playing Morphling (which used to be my favorite creature). Tap 2 mana, attack for 5 with evasion seems decent. He doubles as a blocker and is really hard to get rid of.
I could also see Hands of Binding being a good card in this deck.
I've been meaning to ask about this deck aswell. It looks totally awesome, and I've started collecting cards for it myself. Have you done any more testing?
There is some cards I didn't see mentioned here that I hope you could elaberate on. Mindshrieker is a creature that benefits from Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive's evasion that also can get bigger (if you have the mana for it...). The effect might be hit and miss, but I think it's worth considering, espicially since this is a weenie deck.
Also didn't see Surrakar Spellblade mentioned. I know you have to play a spell afterwards for him to be a Scroll Thief, but if the instant/sorcery department is of a decent volume, he might totally be worth it.
Finally I'm thinking about playing Morphling (which used to be my favorite creature). Tap 2 mana, attack for 5 with evasion seems decent. He doubles as a blocker and is really hard to get rid of.
I could also see Hands of Binding being a good card in this deck.
Sorry about taking so long to respond. I've unfortunately have not had too many times to test the deck out as I'm currently working night shift, and lack a Commander playgroup currently.
Mindshrieker and Hands of Binding are cards I've considered in the deck, but I really want to have more testing before I'm cutting more cards.
Surrakar is weird. It's an effect that is something I want, but I'm also rather spell-lite of a deck. If I was playing more Instant/Sorcery spells I might consider it. In fact, Battlebond is releasing a card that would go well in a more Instant/Sorcery spell based version of the deck in Spellseeker.
Morphling and Aetherling could easily see play in this deck, especially if you're playing with a more slow meta. As is, the people I play against most frequently, for what little that means currently, tend to play much more speedy control oriented decks, and I would prefer not having too many high costing cards.
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Sorry about taking so long to respond. I've unfortunately have not had too many times to test the deck out as I'm currently working night shift, and lack a Commander playgroup currently.
Mindshrieker and Hands of Binding are cards I've considered in the deck, but I really want to have more testing before I'm cutting more cards.
Surrakar is weird. It's an effect that is something I want, but I'm also rather spell-lite of a deck. If I was playing more Instant/Sorcery spells I might consider it. In fact, Battlebond is releasing a card that would go well in a more Instant/Sorcery spell based version of the deck in Spellseeker.
Morphling and Aetherling could easily see play in this deck, especially if you're playing with a more slow meta. As is, the people I play against most frequently, for what little that means currently, tend to play much more speedy control oriented decks, and I would prefer not having too many high costing cards.
No problem at all!
Since me asking, I have actually played a bunch of games on cockatrice, and overall I have been fairly empressed by the deck. It's been fun to play, and I've been able to win some rather surprising wins.
More then one have been called the deck mono-blue Edric, which isn't entirely false A coulpe of times, I was able to chain Time Warp's ftw. When you are able to draw 4-5 cards pr turn, it's not unlikely to dig into Snapcaster Mage or another Time Walk.
Morphling has been... ok. Think I've drawn him twice, but he has been dealing some damage, which most of the creatures can't. Then dying to a wrath So it's with mixed feeling, that I see the new Brightling is kinda a better Morphling. In the same vein, Mindshrieker have actually been pretty ok. It has been dealing damage, staying behind as a blocker acting as rattlesnake.
I've only drawn Teferi's Veil once, where my opponent asked what it was good for. I tell him it's protects against wraths, he then proceeds to tutor for Anguished Unmaking to exile it, the Supreme Verdict, lol.
I'm definitely going to try out Spellseeker. I do run a fair amount of instant/socerry (and also Runechanter's Pike), so a weenie to work as a toolbox looks great.
Hope you get to play more soon, so we can evolve this cool deck-type!
Sorry about taking so long to respond. I've unfortunately have not had too many times to test the deck out as I'm currently working night shift, and lack a Commander playgroup currently.
Mindshrieker and Hands of Binding are cards I've considered in the deck, but I really want to have more testing before I'm cutting more cards.
Surrakar is weird. It's an effect that is something I want, but I'm also rather spell-lite of a deck. If I was playing more Instant/Sorcery spells I might consider it. In fact, Battlebond is releasing a card that would go well in a more Instant/Sorcery spell based version of the deck in Spellseeker.
Morphling and Aetherling could easily see play in this deck, especially if you're playing with a more slow meta. As is, the people I play against most frequently, for what little that means currently, tend to play much more speedy control oriented decks, and I would prefer not having too many high costing cards.
No problem at all!
Since me asking, I have actually played a bunch of games on cockatrice, and overall I have been fairly empressed by the deck. It's been fun to play, and I've been able to win some rather surprising wins.
More then one have been called the deck mono-blue Edric, which isn't entirely false A coulpe of times, I was able to chain Time Warp's ftw. When you are able to draw 4-5 cards pr turn, it's not unlikely to dig into Snapcaster Mage or another Time Walk.
Morphling has been... ok. Think I've drawn him twice, but he has been dealing some damage, which most of the creatures can't. Then dying to a wrath So it's with mixed feeling, that I see the new Brightling is kinda a better Morphling. In the same vein, Mindshrieker have actually been pretty ok. It has been dealing damage, staying behind as a blocker acting as rattlesnake.
I've only drawn Teferi's Veil once, where my opponent asked what it was good for. I tell him it's protects against wraths, he then proceeds to tutor for Anguished Unmaking to exile it, the Supreme Verdict, lol.
I'm definitely going to try out Spellseeker. I do run a fair amount of instant/socerry (and also Runechanter's Pike), so a weenie to work as a toolbox looks great.
Hope you get to play more soon, so we can evolve this cool deck-type!
Just as a heads up, for more toolboxy cards take a gander at Vedalken Aethermage. Being able to fetch some of our key cards, like Snapcaster and Master of Waves as well as being weenie in itself might be worth consideration for your build.
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My List of Current Decks: -Modern- WMartyrProcB BBurnR -Commander-
I've been wanting to post this for a while now, since I really think this has some potential. I still need some cards IRL, but have been testing on cockatrice mostly, but also just got some real games in last week, which went really well. It was 1v1, and I think the deck really shines under those circumstances. Once I got down some evasive creatures down and started drawing, I could just lock the game entirely. With all the bounce and counter I had everything under control. In multiplayer games it's been harder. I tend to drop the creatures early, and then hitting randomly for the purpose of drawing cards. This annoys people more then it frightens them, and now monoblue weenies is a target. The wincons is fairly slow, so it's hard to control a whole table, but I have managed.
Well, I'll just share my list for now, and we can maybe go into detail about specific cards later on. Here goes:
Introduction:
There are, of course, a few exceptions to this, most notably Azami, Lady of Scrolls and Sun Quan, Lord of Wu. Where the prior uses them as a cog in their grand machine for comboing off. The latter is terribly over costed for what most decks want to do. Enter Tetsuko Umezawa, a blue commander that favours a more aggressive approach to creatures. Low CMC and a powerful effect means that she pilots a flexible and powerful deck that's not quite like anything else within the colour.
About Me:
My relationship with the Commander (EDH) format has been a bit more complicated. I'd initially heard about from an older sibling during lull in my Magic career. Conflux (2009) was just around the corner, and my sibling decided to try to con me to comeback to Magic. They wove me fanciful tales of this spectacular new format called EDH. How you always had a legendary representative, and that you only ever needed a singular copy of a card for your deck. I shrugged, and replied with a simple request to make me some red deck to play.
He came back to me a week later with a deck helmed by Akroma, Angel of Fury. Now the deck was terrible, but I still adored that awful deck. It has long since been disassembled, but it still struck a chord with me. Most importantly, it started a fairly long fascination with the format.
Over the years, I've had a multitude of decks. Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed to Nin, the Pain Artist (my first deck that I would really consider to be really built by me). My preferences always lead me back to the Rakdos colour pair though. In fact, my current favourite deck, Titania, Protector of Argoth, was made in an attempt to break into my, then, least favourite colour.
These decks that I craft on here may never fully come to fruition as often times I use them as a thought experiment. That said, I always enjoy the discussion. Hopefully, my ideas here will inspire you to craft some more decks of your own.
Description:
1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
Creatures (25)
1 Cephalid Constable
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Daring Saboteur
1 Eternal of Harsh Truths
1 Gateway Sneak
1 Ghostly Pilferer
1 Gilded Drake
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Master of Waves
1 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Neurok Commando
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
1 Nightveil Sprite
1 Nimble Obstructionist
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Scroll Thief
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Spellseeker
1 Tandem Lookout
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Vedalken Aethermage
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Walking Ballista
1 Wharf Infiltrator
1 Jace, Cunning Castaway
Instants (15)
1 Capsize
1 Cryptic Command
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Dig Through Time
1 Forbid
1 Force of Will
1 Frantic Search
1 Intuition
1 Mission Briefing
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Pact of Negation
1 Pull from Tomorrow
1 Sunder
1 Swan Song
1 Whir of Invention
Sorceries (4)
1 All Is Dust
1 Expropriate
1 Knowledge Exploitation
1 Notorious Throng
Artifacts (10)
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Bloodforged Battle-Axe
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mask of Memory
1 Meekstone
1 Quietus Spike
1 Sol Ring
1 Thought Vessel
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Equilibrium
1 Imprisoned in the Moon
1 Military Intelligence
1 Propaganda
1 Reconnaissance Mission
1 Rhystic Study
Lands (36)
1 Academy Ruins
1 Flooded Strand
13 Island
1 Mutavault
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scavenger Grounds
12 Snow-Covered Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolaria West
1 Wasteland
Cards I'm Considering:
Chain of Vapor: A bounce spell that can also save our own permanents in case of a wrath.
Teferi's Veil: A way to protect ourselves from the fear of an impending wrath? Sign me up. Now I just need to track one down.
Gigantoplasm: Another clone effect, but this one has the option to abuse Tetusko's ability. Is the cost potentially too much? My CMC is still relatively low.
Skullclamp: Really this card is pretty much required at some point, but I'm going to hold off for a bit. There's still more stuff I want to test before adding the clamps.
Lightning Greaves: This is a card I've been bouncing back, and forth on. It's really good at providing protection for creatures, but it also slows down our early turns.
Jace, Cunning Castaway: Good ol' Harelquinn Romance Jace, he's not strong, but dangit I like him in the deck. As I refine the deck more and more, I'm tempted to cut him.
Change Log:
Commandeer -> Deepfathom Skulker: Commandeer has just sat in my hands both games that I've held it. Most times when someone at the table played something, it was better to counter it. That being said, I've looked and it seems I could use a couple more creatures that synergize with Tetsuko as she is disappointing without anything else on the board.
Treasure Cruise -> Impaler Shrike: Treasure Cruise hasn't been bad, but I want to buff out my creature slots as well. This deck needs to be proactive, and I feel like Treasure Cruise is just not where I want to be currently.
Ophidian -> Jhessian Thief: Having to prevent the damage from Ophidian has proven troublesome, and while I've been wishy-washy on including Prowess creatures, as they provide a non-bo if I need to counter mid-combat, Ophidian disappointed. Sorry, snek.
Spellskite -> Tandem Lookout: Similar problems to Commandeer, I need more creatures, and would rather get more creatures on board.
Karn's Temporal Sundering -> Glen Elendra Archmage: I'm trying to minimize extra turns, so eliminating one won't be a big issue. That being said Glen Elendra has some nice synergy with the deck.
Keiga, the Tide Star -> Arm with AEther: I'm dropping Keiga as the only time he ever gets removed is when a Wrath is inbound. Arm is an interesting card that fits in with our deck's core strategy
Mind Stone -> Mask of Memory: Mind Stone has the unfortunate problem of been stuck in the low end of our mana curve when the deck's curve is fairly low to begin with. Often times, I found myself casting it for the card draw. I would rather replace with a card that makes Tetsuko more valuable.
Mind Over Matter -> Military Intelligence: This is an easy switch. M.O.M. never really had a place in the deck, and I definitely forgot how disappointing it can be when played fair.
Soldevi Excavations -> Reliquary Tower: The deck can easily get a large hand-size, and having more ways to protect it is not a bad thing.
Island*2 -> Polluted Delta/Flooded Strand: These were both sitting in an old Khans standard deck that I forgot about. I might as well add them in.
Baral, Chief of Compliance -> Looter il-Kor: I'm really not heavy in the instant and sorcery department, and perpetually unblockable looter is good for what the deck wants.
Misdirection -> Back to Basics: I'm trying to cut back on many of my Counter-esque effects.
Minamo, School at Water's Edge/Blinkmoth Nexus/Inkmoth Nexus/Tolaria -> Island*4: Adding some more basics for B2B.
Time Spiral -> Bloodforged Battle-Axe: I don't really need the grip refresh, and I would prefer to have some more Wincon related cards. Not a bad card, and may change it back soon.
Torrential Gearhulk -> Consecrated Sphinx: I really want him in my Brawl deck, but alas I only own a single copy. I'm really not heavy in the instant department, but I really love how he interacts with Buyback.
Warkite Marauder -> Sakashima's Student: Warkite Marauder often is nothing more than 2/1 Flying, and I'm often left wanting more for his ability. I feel like he would be better in a deck that ran more targeted removal.
Raven Guild Master -> Thassa, God of the Sea: The Guild Master has always had the problem of not really doing anything other then drawing us ire. Thassa gives us another source of unblockability, and provides a large-ish beater, something which this deck is somewhat lacking in.
Mission Briefing whilst unassuming has been noteworthy in the few games. The ability to pay alternative costs with it has proven clutch, whether it's paying for an additional Overloaded Cyclonic Rift or getting a Capsize back to hand with its Buyback from the GY, Briefing only exiles if it would be put in the GY.
Nightveil Sprite has been a welcome addition as it does supplement the early game. The deck tends to struggle if it can't get an early source of draw, and while not draw per se, it can help even out our deck.
The Changes:
Impaler Shrike->Nightveil Sprite
Hope of Ghirapur->Mission Briefing
Rootwater Thief->Equilibrium
Tezzeret, Artifice Master->Invoke Prejudice: Tezzeret has been consistently underwhelming, and my recent acquisition of a copy of a infamous terrible, terrible card has made the swap over easy.
Back to Basics -> Ghostly Pilferer: I'm cutting this more just because I really don't play this card as many of the people have started to shift to more fun decks, and is often feel bad for the rest of the table. I still have a soft spot for my original vision of deck, but this is one card I can cut.
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
Teferi's Veil is a neat card for Ux aggro that could give your weenies annoying staying power.
Military Intelligence is another source of card draw.
I definitely second Teferi's Veil. If you're attacking with those creatures, then they've no utility on opponents' turns to block, so the Veil protects them from any sorcery-speed removal, which is the near absolute of board wipes. Plus, as an enchantment itself, it is one of the harder-to-remove pieces. I have a mono-U deck that I had counterspells in just to counter board wipes, and was able to cut a majority of them once I put the Veil in. I would suggest cutting a counterspell from this list for it as well.
This deck is looking really fun!
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
Thanks for the suggestions, Teferi's Veil is definitely a card that I'll need to keep an eye out for. Unfortunately, I just finished a card order, but I will make a note for that to go on the next one.
Military Intelligence, I didn't even know was a card. That's going to be an easy fix to fit that in.
Thanks for the compliments, I really appreciate them. My overall goal with this is to try and overall make this thread into a Primer, or at least Primer worthy, entry on the site. I'm choosing the new legends partially because they haven't been fully played with yet, and I would love to be an active voice in the development of at least one of these decks. This is helped by the fact, that this thread can grow much more naturally as the set has not been released yet. Anyways, on with the show.
Yeah, you're right Mind Over Matter doesn't really have a place in this deck. I happened to have an extra one, and wanted to try it. It was the same case with Sunder. I just had to use that Amonkhet Invocation art that I had for it, lol.
I already have Thought Vessel in deck, but you're also right I could use more hand-size protection. As is, I think I might to tinker with my mana base for a bit. That means I'm dropping Soldevi Excavations for a Reliquary Tower. I want to play the deck more before I start adding card like Venser's Journal, and I would rather currently drop the curve of the deck currently.
So due to recent suggestions, I'm changing the deck in the following ways.
Mind Over Matter -> Military Intelligence: This is an easy switch. M.O.M. never really had a place in the deck, and I definitely forgot how disappointing it can be when played fair.
Soldevi Excavations -> Reliquary Tower: The deck can easily get a large hand-size, and having more ways to protect it is not a bad thing.
Island*2 -> Polluted Delta/Flooded Strand: These were both sitting in an old Khans standard deck that I forgot about. I might as well add them in.
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
Jushi Apprentice looks spicy in this deck, and should reliably flip, and get you more draw.
I like Knacksaw Clique here because it's a decent flying blocker early and you can reliably activate it's untap ability after it attacks (and taps) unblocked. You can "play" the card and not just "cast" it, so you can snipe some lands and ramp yourself too, plus if you eventually get some diferent colors (or have something like Gilded Lotus), then you can start to cast non-blue stuff too. Decent combo with Wizened Snitches, which is tastefully a rogue, if that eventually matters.
Have you thought about Lu Xun, Scholar General for the "draw on damage" theme? I use him in my Thassa, God of the Sea and it's pretty reliable, and even better if you don't have to pay 1U to do it! Thieving Magpie. Also, Ophidian does the same, but just has the choice of draw or damage. You may have thought about these cards already, but I hadn't seen them mentioned here.
Hope this helps!
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
Sakashima's Student is a card I actually already own. Bought the Ninja deck during its first go around, and that's certainly a interesting idea. Though do you think it's better than Gigantoplasm in this deck? They both seem equally flexible, and that was a clone someone else pointed out to me as well.
Knacksaw Clique is a card that's one my short list of testable cards. I really need to have more extensive list on cards I want to try out on the main post. In addition, there's actually an okay amount of Faeries for this deck. I even taken more then one glance at Latchkey Faerie.
I'll be honest on Lu Xun, Scholar General. I'm not running him because I actively dislike his art. It just looks so awkward and stilted. His effect is good, and he probably should be in the deck. Thieving Magpie is definitely a good idea as well.
Finally, I'm really tempted with all of the ideas you're giving me to make a more budget list. I'm really loving the input, and it's getting my head spinning in a few ways to take the deck.
Hmmmmm, I'm going to need to find some cuttable cards.
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
Ovalchase Dragster also seems like it could do some damage
Specter's Shroudturning your guys into specters could be fun (note only works with 1 toughness). with that said you could add more equipment that just add power to make unblockable. Bloodforged Battle-Axe, Captain's Claws, Hammer of Ruin could help with the damage and Moonsilver Spear poop out some flying 4/4's
I think both Sakashima’s Student and Gigantoplasm are great clone effects for a deck like this, although I see them differing in their application a bit. I see the Student wanting to copy something big on the board, anyone’s creature, with the added element of surprise with a cheap Ninjitsu ability. Think someone is holding up Settle the Wreckage or similar removal to your mounting attacks? Swing in with a lone Scroll Thief or similar to appear like your just looking for value. An opponent likely wouldn’t use precious removal over one damage and a single card draw. That’s when you thrown in the Student copying an opponent’s Malignus or Consuming Aberration that’s been growing all game sadly without evasion to do anything! The con here is that you can only make the Student/copy unblocked once if power and toughness are more than 1, unless you can bounce it to do it again. Giganto on the other hand would likely be copying a 1/X or X/1 creature to “sneak” in damage via its own ability after attacks. This effect is more repeatable, but also more mana intensive (mono blue is not known for mana ramp outside of a ton of mana rocks) and it has to sit on the board for a whole round hoping to dodge sorcery-speed (and all other types) removal. Giganto can protect itself from -X/-X stuff though, if you have the mana up. Both good, and I would personally try to keep both in for now to see how they go, but if I HAD to cut one or the other, then I would cut Giganto and keep Student mostly for the instant-speed surprise factor and cheaper ability.
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
I would also use Whir of Invention.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
So I just picked up a Bloodforged Battle-Axe for the deck, and I'm going to try it out.
Thassa, God of the Sea is not bad. I do run enough devotion to constantly have her active. Also, do I really run enough artifacts for Whir of Invention?
UPDATE:
So an update, I got an SP Back to Basics for a really good price, and a Bloodforged Battle-Axe also. This means I'm going to drop most of my non-Basics except for a few.
Baral, Chief of Compliance -> Looter il-Kor: I'm really not heavy in the instant and sorcery department, and perpetually unblockable looter is good for what the deck wants.
Misdirection -> Back to Basics: I'm trying to cut back on many of my Counter-esque effects.
Minamo, School at Water's Edge/Blinkmoth Nexus/Inkmoth Nexus/Tolaria -> Island*4: Adding some more basics for B2B.
Time Spiral -> Bloodforged Battle-Axe: I don't really need the grip refresh, and I would prefer to have some more Wincon related cards. Not a bad card, and may change it back soon.
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
I'm swapping around a card for a Adeliz, the Cinder Wind Brawl deck I want to have on stand by, and an under-performer.
Torrential Gearhulk -> Consecrated Sphinx: I really want him in my Brawl deck, but alas I only own a single copy. I'm really not heavy in the instant department, but I really love how he interacts with Buyback.
Warkite Marauder -> Sakashima's Student: Warkite Marauder often is nothing more than 2/1 Flying, and I'm often left wanting more for his ability. I feel like he would be better in a deck that ran more targeted removal.
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
Also, if you want to get the most out of coastal piracy effects, I suggest adding a few cheap flyers to your list. In particular, I would suggest Siren Stormtamer, as it protects Tetsuko, and Cloud of Faeries, as it is free and combos nicely with ninjas.
Oh, I really like Siren Stormtamer. I'm going to need to throw it in here somewhere. Cloud of Faeries, I'm a little more hesitant on as I'm not sure if a free 1/1 flier is really worth it. Granted, it's definitely something for me to keep in mind as I restructure the deck.
Library of Leng isn't something that I want as I don't find myself often needing the cards I'm discarding, and I would often have to cut something more valuable.
In other news,
I've been messing with the deck, and I've come to the conclusion that I might need at least another end game threat. I have an issue of closing out games. I was looking at one of the Eldrazi Titans. I would like someone else's opinion on this. Does anyone out there in the empty void of the internet have any thoughts?
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
I got a few more 1v1 games with this deck in, and boy does it feel nice there. I had some problems organizing larger game with the Pre-Release going on, and whilst not my preferred way to play, it does have some definite game to it in 1v1. I say, nothing feels better then attacking with 2 unblockable creatures drawing 6 and discarding 2.
Anyways, I've also decided to make one more change.
Jhessian Thief->Gilded Drake: While not inherently bad, Thief makes us need to cast anything other than creatures on the second main phase. I figured the easiest way to circumvent it is to get rid of it, and the Drake is always a good card. It often can't block us, and allows us to have slight more late game reach.
In other news:
I'm needing to find a Thassa, God of the Sea, and everywhere in my local area seems to be sold out, sigh. This next cut will probably Raven Guild Master as we're not a mill deck.
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
I was able to track down a Thassa in my nearby vicinity. What this all means is I'm making another update, its been so long I know.
Deepfathom Skulker -> Whir of Invention: An overcosted card to a more flexible card. Skulker wasn't terrible, but suffered from the fact that it costed so much to bring out. At worst, Whir can find an ersatz replacement for the Skulker in Bident of Thassa for only 7.
Raven Guild Master -> Thassa, God of the Sea: The Guild Master has always had the problem of not really doing anything other then drawing us ire. Thassa gives us another source of unblockability, and provides a large-ish beater, something which this deck is somewhat lacking in.
Additional Info:
I've been happy on how this deck has been playing currently, and I'm probably going to focus more on refining the main post at this point. In addition, I want to start giving recaps for my games. If you have any suggestions on updating the main deck be sure to give me a recommendation, I always appreciate them.
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
The first two are Explorer's Scope and Dowsing Dagger. Explorer's scope synergizes very well with our overall gameplan. For a 2 mana investment, it can accelerate our mana, and when it doesn't, it ensures that our next draw is a nonland card, which is very helpful during the mid to late game when we no longer need to draw mana. Dowsing Dagger is also a way to provide mana acceleration for this deck. While the +2/+1 does not work well with Tetsuko, we have enough evasion without him to be able to flip this consistently, and once flipped, it provides a lot of additional mana.
Another card that I think is good for us is Hangarback Walker. We can drop it as a 1/1 to keep evasion from tetsuko and get combat damage triggers from equipment or Coastal Piracy, but we can also increase the number of counters on it to act as a sort of insurance against board wipes.
Also, I noticed you don't run Stolen Identity, which is a bomb in this deck, and usually copies two permanents the turn it is cast. 6 mana is a lot, but in this case, I think it is well worth it.
Lastly, I have been considering running Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir to prevent instant speed removal on Tetsuko during the combat step. I am curious as to what your thoughts are on this.
Edit: on second thought, you don't run as much evasion as I do, so maybe the dagger isn't worthwhile.
There is some cards I didn't see mentioned here that I hope you could elaberate on. Mindshrieker is a creature that benefits from Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive's evasion that also can get bigger (if you have the mana for it...). The effect might be hit and miss, but I think it's worth considering, espicially since this is a weenie deck.
Also didn't see Surrakar Spellblade mentioned. I know you have to play a spell afterwards for him to be a Scroll Thief, but if the instant/sorcery department is of a decent volume, he might totally be worth it.
Finally I'm thinking about playing Morphling (which used to be my favorite creature). Tap 2 mana, attack for 5 with evasion seems decent. He doubles as a blocker and is really hard to get rid of.
I could also see Hands of Binding being a good card in this deck.
Sorry about taking so long to respond. I've unfortunately have not had too many times to test the deck out as I'm currently working night shift, and lack a Commander playgroup currently.
Mindshrieker and Hands of Binding are cards I've considered in the deck, but I really want to have more testing before I'm cutting more cards.
Surrakar is weird. It's an effect that is something I want, but I'm also rather spell-lite of a deck. If I was playing more Instant/Sorcery spells I might consider it. In fact, Battlebond is releasing a card that would go well in a more Instant/Sorcery spell based version of the deck in Spellseeker.
Morphling and Aetherling could easily see play in this deck, especially if you're playing with a more slow meta. As is, the people I play against most frequently, for what little that means currently, tend to play much more speedy control oriented decks, and I would prefer not having too many high costing cards.
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
No problem at all!
Since me asking, I have actually played a bunch of games on cockatrice, and overall I have been fairly empressed by the deck. It's been fun to play, and I've been able to win some rather surprising wins.
More then one have been called the deck mono-blue Edric, which isn't entirely false A coulpe of times, I was able to chain Time Warp's ftw. When you are able to draw 4-5 cards pr turn, it's not unlikely to dig into Snapcaster Mage or another Time Walk.
Morphling has been... ok. Think I've drawn him twice, but he has been dealing some damage, which most of the creatures can't. Then dying to a wrath So it's with mixed feeling, that I see the new Brightling is kinda a better Morphling. In the same vein, Mindshrieker have actually been pretty ok. It has been dealing damage, staying behind as a blocker acting as rattlesnake.
I've only drawn Teferi's Veil once, where my opponent asked what it was good for. I tell him it's protects against wraths, he then proceeds to tutor for Anguished Unmaking to exile it, the Supreme Verdict, lol.
I'm definitely going to try out Spellseeker. I do run a fair amount of instant/socerry (and also Runechanter's Pike), so a weenie to work as a toolbox looks great.
Hope you get to play more soon, so we can evolve this cool deck-type!
Just as a heads up, for more toolboxy cards take a gander at Vedalken Aethermage. Being able to fetch some of our key cards, like Snapcaster and Master of Waves as well as being weenie in itself might be worth consideration for your build.
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
Well, I'll just share my list for now, and we can maybe go into detail about specific cards later on. Here goes:
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Daring Saboteur
1 Scrool Theif
1 Eternal of Harsh Truths
1 Neurok Commander
1 Tandem Lookout
1 Surrakar Spellblade
1 Archaeomancer
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Spellseeker
1 Cephalid Constable
1 Morphling
1 Master of Waves
1 Riptide Entrancer
1 Thalakos Deceiver
1 Invisble Stalker
1 Mindshrieker
1 Mistblade Shiobi
1 Rootwater Thief
1 Siren Stormtamer
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
Enchantments 6
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Millitary Intelligence
1 Imprisoned in the Moon
1 Invoke Prejudice
1 Propaganda
1 Teferi's Veil
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Rogue's Gloves
1 Mask of Memory
1 Quietus Spike
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Expedition Map
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Thought Vessel
1 Sol Ring
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Meekstone
Instants 16
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Blink of an Eye
1 Capsize
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Turnabout
1 Pact of Negation
1 Mana Drain
1 Forbid
1 Cryptic Command
1 Force of Will
1 Pongify
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Reality Shift
1 Whir of Invention
Sorceries 7
1 Fabricate
1 Knowledge Exploitation
1 Notorious Throng
1 Time Warp
1 Expropriate
1 Curse of the Swine
1 Devastation Tide
Lands 36
1 Academy Ruins
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Strip Mine
1 Faerie Conclave
1 Halimar Depths
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Remote Isle
1 Desert of the Mindful
23 Island
1 Tolaria